In the reference patent there is described and claimed a system which provides for high density packaging of electronic equipment in an island configuration. Integrated circuit packages of the "leadless" variety, each having a heat sink member with at least one integral extension at an extremity thereof, are installed in receptacles or connectors. The package is located in the connector by means of a registration hole in the heat sink and a retention post within the connector. The connectors themselves are mounted on an interconnection medium and lie between, and in close proximity to, adjacent parallel sections of a cooling frame fastened to the interconnection medium. When installed in the connector, the IC package heat sink extension contacts the cooling frame section.
The insertion of the IC package into the connector via its retention post is readily accomplished without the aid of tools. However, even though the heat sink member extends beyond the connector body, the surrounding structure in a fully assembled island and the extremely narrow aperture between the connector and the cooling frame sections make it virtually impossible to extract the package from the connector without the aid of a tool.
The proliferation of integrated circuits has resulted in the development of a number of IC package extraction tools. These tools vary appreciably in their design to make them applicable to the variety of IC packages being produced and the manner in which they are mounted for operation. "Leadless" IC packages are generally side, edge or face mounted in suitable connectors. Dual inline packages (DIP) are generally of the "leaded" type characterized by two rows of external connecting leads which are inserted into a printed circuit board. An example of a tool for removing the latter type of IC packages from a circuit board is found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,974,556, which issued to Peter S. Kubik and is entitled "Integrated Circuit Extraction Tool." In the specification of the latter patent, mention is made of several patented extraction tools, each adapted for a particular purpose. None of the foregoing tools solves the problem of removal of the leadless IC packages used in the high package density island configuration of the reference Braun et al patent. The need existed for a simple, yet efficient, low-cost extraction tool which might be provided for servicing the island IC packages. The present invention fills this need.